Some embodiments relate generally to aseptically filling a package and more particularly to aseptically filling a package containing a cloth with a medical solution for use in healthcare.
The healthcare and other industries use aseptic and/or sterile products, for example, cloths to clean wounds and prepare a patient for surgery. Such cloths can be at least partially saturated with a medical solution, for example, an alcohol solution. Another medical solution that may be used is Chlorhexidine gluconate (“CHG”).
CHG is a chemical antiseptic that is currently approved and marketed for both inpatient and outpatient use in skin cleansing products, oral rinses, and in pre-surgical applications. Chlorhexidine gluconate is a potent membrane-active anti-bacterial agent with activity against a broad range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. At low concentrations, CHG is bacteriostatic, disrupting cell membrane function. At higher concentrations, CHG is bactericidal against a wide range of bacteria and yeast, irreversibly disrupting cell membrane integrity and leading to intracellular leakage.
The chemical name of CHG is 2,4,11,13-Tetraazatetradecanedimidamide, N,N″-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-3,12-diimino-, di-D-gluconate. The empirical formula of CHG is C22H30Cl2N10.2C6H12O7 and its molecular weight is 897.76.
Chlorhexidine gluconate was first approved by the Topical Antimicrobials Committee of the FDA in 1976 as a surgical hand scrub under the tradename Hibiclens®. Since then, multiple other CHG products have also been approved by the FDA for various antiseptic indications. In hospitals, CHG is commonly used for surgical site preparation and as a skin cleanser to reduce the number of microorganisms on the skin.
Current methods of sterilizing healthcare products, however, are either unsuitable for the contents of a package using CHG or other medical solutions, or may degrade one or more qualities of the medical solution.
Thus, there is a need for a method of aseptically filling a package for medical use.